Dance to Bristol honored; Eighttofasttocatch, Service of Ten win Laurel stakes

Dance to Bristol honored; Eighttofasttocatch, Service of

Ten win Laurel stakes

Laurel Park honored Maryland-based

Dance to Bristol with a special retirement ceremony before offering four

stakes on Saturday's program. The four-year-old filly won seven of 10 starts

this year, including three graded stakes, before completing her career with a

sixth in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint earlier this month at Santa

Anita.

"It's hard for me, knowing this is the last day we will see her," said jockey

Xavier Perez, who joined the filly and her connections in the winner's circle.

"She was amazing. She took me to places I had never been. I had my first graded

race experience and Breeders' Cup with her. I'm going to miss her."

Owned by Taneytown, Maryland resident Susan Wantz and trained by Ollie

Figgins III, the Grade 1-winning Dance to Bristol earned $980,880 from a

20-10-8-0 career record.

Eighttofasttocatch kicked off the stakes action with his third consecutive

victory in the $100,000

Jennings

Handicap for Maryland-breds. The seven-year-old gelding dominated the

one-mile event on the front end, cruising to a six-length decision after posting

uncontested splits of :24 1/5, :47 1/5 and 1:11 on the fast track.

Favored at 4-5 among seven rivals, the Tim Keefe-trained winner stopped the

teletimer in 1:36 3/5 with jockey Forest Boyce.

"He broke a little slow today but he was much the best," Boyce said. "Tim

always has him ready for me. I get to just hang on and enjoy the ride."

"I don't want to sound overconfident but it was a nice race," Keefe said.

"He's very good right now. I'm most proud that he's maintaining at this level."

Wild Louis, Concealed Identity, Bellefire, Outhaul, Tooth N Claw and Who Dat

Boy rounded out the order of finish.

Campaigned by Sylvia Heft, Eighttofasttocatch improved his scorecard to

45-14-7-4, $854,585, with his ninth overall stakes victory. Runner-up in the

Grade 3 Pimlico Special earlier this season, the chestnut son of Not for Love

entered the Jennings off of an easy win in the October 19 Maryland Millions

Classic.

Mark Lapidus' Service of Ten rallied to win the $100,000

Dave's Friend going away by 1 1/2 lengths, notching his second stakes

victory in his last three starts. The reformed claimer traveled six furlongs in

1:10 1/5 with jockey Sheldon Russell.

Winner of the Vincent A. Moscarelli Memorial at Delaware Park August 10, the

Damon Dilodovico-trained four-year-old gelding finished third in the September

21 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash in his previous outing. He's now earned

$247,510 from a 12-7-1-3 ledger.

"There was a lot of speed in this race and the game plan was to come from off

the pace," assistant trainer Mike Geralis said. "We sat back and just picked

them off in the lane. This horse isn't flashy in the morning but he's very

competitive around other horses. That's when he shows his ability."

Fersmiley and Guam Typhoon battled through an opening quarter of :22 before

being joined on the far turn by Rainbow Heir, who stuck a head in front through

a half-mile in :45 1/5. Service of Ten rated about 10 lengths off the pace along

the backstretch before advancing on the far turn, and closed strongly to gain

the lead in deep stretch.

"The race went as planned," Russell said. "There was lots of speed in the

race. As long as they didn't get away, then I knew I had a chance with his huge

late kick.

"The little moisture on the track keeps it honest and I was very happy at the

three-eighths pole. I tipped him out and he came running with his big kick to

win."

Service for Ten was off as the 2-1 second choice in the seven-horse field.

Fersmiley re-railled up the inside to be second but was disqualified and

placed sixth for bearing out at the start, severely interfering with

Confessional Page. The late-running Escrow Kid was elevated one spot to second

and Rainbow Heir was placed third. Action Andy wound up fourth and Congressional

Page fifth. Guam Typhoon trailed, and Ben's Cat and Broad Rule were both

withdrawn.

Jessethemarine came flying late to surprise his two-year-old rivals in the

$100,000

James

F. Lewis III, scoring by a neck as a 35-1 outsider. The dark bay colt closed

fast along the rail to get up in the final strides with jockey Daniel Centeno

and paid $73.80 to win.

The Florida-bred son of With Distinction was cutting back in trip to six

furlongs after being winning the one-mile Whirling Ash at Delaware Park via

disqualification on September 5. Jessethemarine has now won three consecutive

starts after dropping his career debut, increasing his bankroll to $113,940 on

Saturday.

"The six furlongs, we weren't too confident," said trainer John Rigattieri,

who co-owns the colt with Manfred Roos. "I thought I had a decent horse but

there were six speed horses in here. He wasn't going to make the front.

"I didn't see my horse until the (stretch). At the sixteenth pole I said

he'll be third. I still didn't think he won until the announcer said he'd won.

He's run two good races now. We'll find out what kind of horse he is next month

in a seven-eighths race. Seven furlongs is more tactical."

Pure Sensation sprinted to the fore at the break and led the way through

early fractions of :22 2/5 and :45 2/5. Jessethemarine, the eighth betting

choice among 12 rivals, was nearly 10 lengths back in eighth after the opening

half-mile. Pure Sensation extended the lead in midstretch, passing the

five-furlong mark in :57 3/5 with a two-length advantage, but could not hold off

the winner in the final strides, saving the place by a neck over the

fast-finishing It's a Bang in third.

Joint Custody came next in fourth and was followed by 9-5 favorite Corfu,

Barracuda, Mister Pollard, Debt Ceiling, Open the Bank, Aarons Orient, Elevated

and Ready for Action.

Jessethemarine completed six furlongs in 1:10 3/5.

"I've been working him at Bowie a few times and he's been doing good,"

Centeno said. "There was lots of speed in the race so I just wanted to see how

they came out of the gate.

"At the three-eighths pole he started dragging me and we got clear. At the

eighth pole he gave me that extra kick to the finish. I was hoping he would make

that one run today and he did."

Michael Foster's Bacopia Breeze posted a front-running upset in the $100,000

Smart

Halo for two-year-old fillies, holding even-money choice Co Cola safe by

three-quarters of a length. Based at Beulah Park with trainer William Cowans,

the Kentucky-bred daughter of Visionaire stretched her winning streak to three

while making her stakes debut. She dueled through early splits in :22 and :46

before shaking free at the head of the stretch and completed six furlongs in

1:12 1/5.

"This is the first time I have been on this horse," jockey Erick Rodriguez

said. "The trainer told me to take it from the break and see what happens. My

horse broke sharp and I didn't want to take back so I stayed close to the front

and let (her) be.

"My horse got the lead easy turning for home and I kept (her) busy to the

finish."

Off at nearly 7-1, Bacopia Breeze paid $15.60 to win as the third betting

choice among seven contestants. She dropped her first two starts on the

synthetic track at Presque Isle Downs before defeating maiden special weight

foes by an 11-length margin on the dirt track at Mountaineer in late August. The

chestnut filly was exiting an 8 1/2-length romp over allowance rivals on the

West Virginia track September 21.

Her record now reads 5-3-1-0, $92,798.

Co Cola, the favorite for Todd Pletcher following a runaway debut score at

Belmont Park, rallied into a threatening position in midstretch but could not

catch the winner. She wound up two lengths clear of 3-2 second favorite Who's In

Town, who was disqualified from a victory in the Grade 2 Adirondack two starts

back and entered the Smart Halo off of a fourth in the Grade 1 Alcibiades.

Henny's Princess, Hug a Tree, Hop the Six and Silver Valley came next under

the wire.

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